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Administrative/Biographical history: Magistrates, or Justices of the Peace, were lay members of county administration and courts. Courts of Petty Sessions began to appear at the beginning of the eighteenth century, as extra meetings to reduce the burden on Justices of the Peace in Quarter Sessions. The Petty Sessions were regular meetings, subdivided into geographical divisions, with each magistrate being assigned to one division. The Petty Sessions dealt with minor cases such as petty theft, drunkenness, minor assaults, bastardy and failure to maintain families, larceny, trespassing, fraud and juvenile cases, as well as ale licensing and adoption. They required the presence of two Justices of the Peace but no jury. In the Pembrokeshire area, divisions included Cemaes Petty Sessions Division, Cardigan Petty Sessions Division, Castlemartin Petty Sessions Division, Fishguard Division (also referred to as Gogledd Preseli), Narberth Division, Roose Division, Tenby Division, Pembroke Division, Dewsland Division, Dungleddy Petty Sessions Division. The Petty Sessional Divisions (Pembrokeshire) Order 1954 reorganised the divisions and created a new Division of Haverfordwest, which had previously only covered the town of Haverfordwest. The Division of the Milford Haven Petty Sessions was established in 1939. In 1971, the Petty and Quarter Sessions were replaced by Magistrates' and Crown Courts respectively.